UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA 

COLLEGE   OF    AGRICULTURE 

AGRICULTURAL   EXPERIMENT   STATION 

BERKELEY,    CALIFORNIA 


ECONOMIC   ASPECTS  OF  THE 
WATERMELON   INDUSTRY 


EMIL  RAUCHENSTEIN 


BULLETIN  449 

March,  1928 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PRINTING  OFFICE 

BERKELEY,  CALIFORNIA 

1928 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Summary  and   conclusions   1 

Object    2 

Acreage  distribution  of  watermelons  in  the  United  States  3 

Distribution  of  watermelon  production  in  the  United  States  5 

Acre  yields  of  watermelons  7 

Trend  in  watermelon  shipments  8 

Trend  in  watermelon  shipments  from  Imperial  and  Coachella  valleys 11 

Distribution  of  watermelon  shipments  by  cities   12 

Distribution  of  carlot  shipments  of  watermelons  by  months  14 

Competition  of  watermelons  with  cantaloupes  and  fresh  fruits  17 

United  States  shipments  by  months  17 

California  shipments   by  months 17 

California  shipments  of   fruits   and   melons   by   months   compared   with 

United  States  watermelon   shipments   21 

Factors  affecting  the  prices  of  Imperial  Valley  watermelons  in  Los  Angeles  23 

Carlots  on  track  and  prices  23 


ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON    INDUSTRY 

EMIL  EAUCHENSTEINL  2 


SUMMARY   AND    CONCLUSIONS 

The  most  important  watermelon-producing  areas  in  the  United 
States  are  in  the  southern  states,  Georgia,  Texas,  and  Florida  pro- 
duce nearly  60  per  cent  of  the  total  United  States  crop.  Data  on 
shipments  indicate  an  upward  trend  in  Arizona  and  California  from 
1919  to  1926.  Most  of  the  southern  states  except  Florida  showed  some 
increase  during  the  same  period.  The  north  central  states  showed  a 
decrease.  Preliminary  figures  for  1927  for  the  United  States  show 
a  decrease  in  shipments  of  nearly  20  per  cent  below  the  high  point 
of  1926 — a  natural  reaction  to  the  low  price  of  1926. 

The  heaviest  yields  of  watermelons  are  obtained  in  Imperial 
Valley,  which  has  a  five-year  average  yield  of  633  melons  to  the 
acre — more  than  double  the  yields  obtained  in  the  southern  or  north 
central  states.  However,  this  does  not  mean  that  the  acreage  in 
Imperial  Valley  will  increase  faster  than  in  sections  where  the  yields 
are  only  one-half  as  high.  The  future  trend  of  acreage  depends  on 
the  profitableness  of  watermelons  compared  with  alternative  products, 
rather  than  on  yields  alone.  For  example,  although  Imperial  Valley 
has  high  watermelon  yields,  it  also  has  high  yields  of  early  canta- 
loupes, which  usually  bring  good  prices.  If  cantaloupes  prove  to  be 
more  profitable  than  watermelons,  the  watermelon  acreage  will  cer- 
tainly not  increase  there  in  spite  of  the  high  yields  compared  with 
other  sections.  Judging  by  the  decline  in  prices  of  Imperial  Valley 
watermelons  on  the  Los  Angeles  market  from  1922  to  1926  as  the 
supply  increased,  it  does  not  seem  likely  that  the  next  few  years  will 
show  much  increase  in  acreage  there.  In  1927,  with  fewer  shipments, 
prices  improved  slightly.  There  is  little  likelihood  of  prices  going 
higher  unless  production  is  kept  down. 

Watermelons  are  consumed  nearer  the  points  of  production  than 
cantaloupes  or  most  other  fruits,  Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco 
receive  practically  no  watermelons  from  outside  the  state,  and  few 
carlots  from  California  go  farther  east  than  Salt  Lake  City.  Cali- 
fornia's interest  in  watermelons  produced  outside  of  the  state  is  due 
mainly  to  their  competition  with  California's  cantaloupes  and  fruits 

1  Associate  in  Agricultural  Economics. 

2  The  author  is  indebted  to  E.  B.  Heflebower,  George  Horenstein,  and 
F.  M.  Roush,  student  assistants,  for  help  in  the  statistical  computations. 


2  UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 

rather  than  to  possible  competition  with  watermelons  raised  in  the 
state.  During  July,  total  carlot  shipments  of  watermelons  in  the 
United  States  are  greater  than  the  combined  shipments  of  all  of  the 
important  melons  and  fruits  of  California.  June  watermelon  ship- 
ments amounted  to  approximately  75  per  cent,  and  August  shipments 
to  40  per  cent  of  California  melon  and  fruit  shipments. 

Prices  of  Imperial  Valley  watermelons  have  been  fairly  closely 
correlated  with  carlots  on  track.  A  statistical  analysis  made  of  these 
factors  for  the  first  eight  weeks  of  each  watermelon  season  from  1922 
to  1927  indicates  that  71  per  cent  of  the  variations  in  price  are 
explained  by  variations  in  the  number  of  carlots  on  track.  This  sug- 
gests the  possible  use  of  the  correlation  analysis,  supplemented  by 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  industry,  in  estimating  prices  that  will 
equate  the  supply  and  demand  under  various  conditions  that  come 
up  in  the  future.  Or,  reversing  the  order,  producers  may  be  able  to 
use  this  to  some  extent  in  adjusting  shipments  so  as  to  prevent 
ruinously  low  prices. 

Because  of  the  perishable  nature  of  the  watermelons  and  the  fact 
that  it  is  an  annual  crop,  one  cannot  judge  the  outlook  in  the  same 
way  that  it  can  be  judged  for  fruit  crops  whose  bearing  acreage  can 
be  definitely  forecast  several  years  ahead.  With  most  crops  of  this 
kind,  however,  there  is  a  marked  tendency  for  the  majority  of  growers 
to  increase  their  acreage  after  years  of  high  prices,  and  to  decrease 
their  acreage  after  years  of  low  prices.  For  example,  the  Imperial 
Valley  watermelon  acreage  in  1927  decreased  500  acres  after  the  low 
price  of  1926.  Alert  growers  may,  therefore,  often  profit  by  adjust- 
ing their  acreages  in  the  opposite  direction  from  the  general  tendency. 
This  practice  should  gradually  bring  about  a  more  stable  industry. 

For  the  next  few  years  it  seems  probable  that  bearing  acreages 
of  fruits  will  increase  faster  than  population.  This  means  that  water- 
melons will  have  keener  competition  that  they  have  had  in  the  past. 

OBJECT 

The  object  of  this  bulletin  is  threefold.  First,  to  determine,  from 
an  analysis  of  the  available  data  on  California  watermelons,  the  trend 
of  production  and  the  price,  and  hence  the  outlook  for  the  industry. 
Second,  to  determine  the  competition  which  California  melons  and 
fruits  are  meeting  in  the  main  markets  of  the  United  States  from  the 
watermelons  from  other  parts  of  the  country.  Third,  to  present  the 
results  of  a  statistical  analysis  of  the  effect  of  supply  on  the  prices  of 
Imperial  Valley  watermelons  on  the  Los  Angeles  market. 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON   INDUSTRY 


ACREAGE    DISTRIBUTION    OF   WATERMELONS    IN   THE 
UNITED   STATES 

The  distribution  of  the  watermelon  acreage  for  1924  is  shown  in 
figure  1.  Table  1  shows  the  distribution  by  states  and  important  sec- 
tions from  1922  to  1926.  Figure  1  is  based  on  the  United  States  census 
by  states  and  counties,  with  corrections  for  the  main  watermelon- 
producing  counties  in  California,  as  given  by  the  California  Coopera- 
tive Crop  Reporting  Service.    The  census  reports  for  1924  give  higher 

Acreage  of  Watermelons  Grown  for  Sale,  1924 


Fig.  1. — Watermelons  are  grown  mainly  in  the  southern  states.  Georgia 
and  Florida  together  had  approximately  40  per  cent  of  the  United  States 
acreage.  California  had  6  per  cent  of  the  total  acreage,  but,  owing  to  heavier 
yields,  produced  10  per  cent  of  the  total  United  States  crop.  (Data  from 
U.  S.  Census  of  Agriculture  1925  by  states,  1926  and  1927.) 

acreage  figures  for  Florida,  Georgia,  and  Texas  than  are  given  in 
table  1,  which  is  based  on  the  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates  data.  Hence 
those  states  appear  slightly  more  dotted  in  figure  1  than  they  would 
be  if  they  represented  the  year  1924  as  shown  in  table  1.  Table 
1  shows  more  nearly  the  commercial-crop  acreage  from  which  ship- 
ments are  made,  while  figure  1  represents  the  total  acreage  grown 
for  sale. 

According  to  table  1,  the  acreage  of  watermelons  in  Arizona  and 
California  has  tended  upward  from  1922  to  1926.     This  is  consistent 


4  UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT   STATION 

with  table  2,  which  shows  an  upward  trend  in  production  for  the  same 
period,  and  with  table  4,  which  shows  an  upward  trend  in  carlot  ship- 
ments from  1919  to  1926.  Arizona  and  California  make  up  a  rela- 
tively small  proportion  (6.4  per  cent)  of  the  total  United  States 
acreage. 

TABLE  1 

Acreage  of  Watermelons,   Commercial  Crop,   by   States   and   Sections, 

1922-1926 


Per  cent 

State  and  section 

1922 

1923 

1924 

1925 

1926 

Average 
1922-26 

of  grand 
total 

1.   Southwestern  states : 

Arizona 

1,200 

900 

1,230 

1,100 

1,200 

1,126 

0.6 

California: 

Imperial  Valley 

4,300 

3,400 

3,800 

4,000 

6,000 

4,300 

2.3 

Other  areas 

6,220 

5,080 

8,040 

6,370 

6,820 

6,506 

3.5 

Total,  section  1 

11,720 

9,380 

13,070 

11,470 

14,020 

11,932 

6.4 

2.   Southern  states : 

Alabama 

12,760 

7,130 

10,940 

10,030 

11,030 

10,378 

5.6 

Arkansas 

1,340 

780 

950 

1,480 

2,700 

1,450 

.8 

Delaware 

1,380 

920 

1,000 

1,900 

2,300 

1,500 

.8 

Florida 

38,080 

30,880 

28,280 

22,100 

24,150 

28,698 

15.5 

Georgia 

66,550 

42,410 

45,890 

45,890 

53,600 

50,868 

27.5 

Maryland 

2,100 

1,850 

2,000 

1,920 

1,800 

1,934 

1.1 

Mississippi 

740 

750 

800 

810 

1,240 

868 

.5 

North  Carolina 

5,100 

4,730 

4,850 

4,100 

4,880 

4,732 

2.6 

Oklahoma 

4,520 

3,850 

3,800 

4,000 

4,000 

4,034 

2.2 

South  Carolina 

15,710 

11,200 

15,070 

11,010 

12,720 

13,142 

7.1 

Texas 

25,500 

24,920 

30,800 

32,020 

34,900 

29,628 

16.0 

Virginia 

3,400 

2,480 

3,040 

3,100 

3,100 

3,024 

1.6 

Total,  section  2 

177,180 

131,900 

147,420 

138,360 

156,420 

150,256 

81.3 

3.  North  central  states: 

Illinois 

2,710 

1,870 

3,120 

2,820 

3,200 

2,744 

1.5 

Indiana 

2,850 

3,050 

3,540 

3,440 

3,440 

3,264 

1.7 

Missouri 

11,670 

6,420 

9,670 

12,200 

17,500 

11,492 

6.2 

Other  states 

2,240 

2,200 

2,840 

1,880 

1,640 

2,160 

1.2 

Total,  section  3 

19,470 

13,540 

19,170 

20,340 

25,780 

19,660 

10.6 

4.   Miscellaneous  states* 

2.6C0 

2,530 

3,600 

3,540 

3,340 

3,140 

1.7 

Grand  Total 

211,060 

157,350 

183,260 

173,710 

199,560 

184,988 

100.0 

*  Includes  Colorado,  Idaho,  New  Jersey,  and  Washington. 

Data  for  1922-1923  from  IT.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Yearbook  1924:732.      1925. 
Data  for  1924-1926  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Yearbook  1926:954.      1927. 


Section  2  of  table  1  includes  all  of  the  southern  states  (west  south- 
central  to  the  south  Atlantic  inclusive)  which  grow  watermelons  on  a 
commercial  scale.     This  area  comprised  81.3  per  cent  of  the  United 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY  5 

States  commercial  watermelon  acreage  for  the  five-year  period  1922 
to  1926.  Georgia  alone  had  50,868  acres  or  27.5  per  cent  of  the  United 
States  acreage;  Texas,  16.0  per  cent;  Florida,  15.5  per  cent;  and 
South  Carolina,  7.1  per  cent.  In  each  state  there  was  a  decrease  in 
acreage  from  1922  to  1923,  followed  by  an  increase  for  the  section  as 
a  whole,  but  by  continued  decreases  in  Florida. 

Section  3,  the  north  central  states,  had  only  19,660  acres,  or  10.6 
per  cent  of  commercial  watermelon  acreage  in  the  United  States  dur- 
ing the  period  1922  to  1926.  Missouri  had  the  largest  acreage  (11,492) 
or  6.2  per  cent  of  the  United  States  total.  Indiana  and  Illinois  ranked 
next  in  importance  with  less  than  2  per  cent  each  of  the  United  States 
total.  As  in  the  case  of  section  2,  section  3  showed  a  decline  in 
acreage  from  1922  to  1923  followed  by  increases  during  the  next 
three  years. 

Section  4  includes  Washington  and  several  other  unimportant 
producing  states.  Together  they  make  up  an  average  of  only  3,140 
acres  for  the  period  1922  to  1926,  or  1.7  per  cent  of  the  United  States 
total. 

The  total  commercial-crop  acreage  in  the  United  States  was  211,060 
acres  in  1922.  This  dropped  to  157,350  acres  in  1923  and  then  partly 
recovered,  reaching  almost  200,000  acres  in  1926.  The  average 
acreage  for  the  five-year  period  was  184,988. 


DISTRIBUTION   OF  WATERMELON   PRODUCTION   IN  THE 
UNITED    STATES 

The  production  of  the  commercial  watermelon  crop  by  states  and 
sections  in  the  United  States  for  1922  to  1926  is  shown  in  table  2. 
In  a  general  way  this  shows  much  the  same  distribution  as  the  distri- 
bution of  acreages  shown  in  table  1,  although  the  differences  in  yield 
per  acre  between  the  irrigated  areas  comprising  section  1,  and  the 
unirrigated  areas  of  the  South  and  East  raised  the  relative  importance 
of  section  1.  Section  1  comprised  only  6.4  per  cent  of  the  total  com- 
mercial watermelon  acreage  but  produced  10.1  per  cent  of  the  crop. 
Georgia  and  Florida  showed  practically  the  same  relative  importance 
in  production  as  in  acreage.  Texas,  however,  averaged  16.0  per  cent 
of  the  United  States  acreage  for  1922  to  1926,  but  produced  only 
12.6  per  cent  of  the  crop.  The  southern  states  as  a  whole  produced 
78.1  per  cent  of  the  commercial  crop,  but  had  81.3  per  cent  of  the 
commercial  acreage. 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


TABLE   2 

Production  of  Watermelons,  Commercial  Crop,  1922-1926 

(Cars  of  1,000  melons) 


State  and  section 

1922 

1923 

1924 

1925 

1926 

Average 
1922-26 

Percent 

of  grand 

total 

1 .   Southwestern  states : 

Arizona 

California: 

408 

2,322 
2,612 

288 

2,040 
2,032 

184 

2,280 
3,851 

352 

3,000 
2,548 

402 

4,560 
3,008 

327 

2,840 
2,810 

0.6 
4  8 

4  7 

Total,  section  1 

5,342 

4,360 

6,315 

5,900 

7,970 

5,977 

10.1 

2.    Southern  states : 

Alabama 

Arkansas : 

Delaware ! 

Florida 

Georgia 

Maryland 

Mississippi 

3,956 

415 

345 

14,470 

20,630 

735 

248 

1,632 

1,582 

4,713 

8,542 

1,190 

1,697 

226 

350 

5,404 

7,973 

703 

202 

1,745 

962 

4,200 

9,195 

662 

3,173 
380 
280 

6,929 
16,750 
500 
212 
728 
950 

6,706 

6,930 
608 

2,618 

432 

697 

8,288 

15,878 

691 

304 

1,304 

1,260 

4,668 

5,636 

976 

3,254 

540 

580 

10,843 

20,958 

648 

217 

1,484 

1,300 

5,215 

6,980 

781 

2,940 

399 

450 

9,187 

16,438 

655 

217 

1,379 

1,230 

5,100 

7,457 

843 

4.9 
0.7 
0.8 
15.5 

27.7 
1.1 
0.4 
2  3 

Oklahoma 

2.1 
8  6 

Texas 

Virginia 

12.6 
1.4 

Total,  section  2 

58,458 

33,319 

44,146 

42,752 

52,800 

46,295 

78.1 

3.   North  central  states: 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Missouri 

881 

998 

3,618 

784 

720 

854 

1,926 

660 

780 
1,062 
2,418 

781 

818 
1,204 
3,575 

658 

816 

980 

5,688 

420 

803 
1,020 
3,445 

660 

1.3 
1.7 
5.8 
1.1 

Total,  section  3 

6,281 

4,160 

5,041 

6,255 

7,904 

5,928 

9.9 

4.    Miscellaneous  states* 

1,047 

895 

1,349 

1,591 

877 

1,152 

1.9 

Grand  Total 

71,128 

42,734 

56,851 

56,498 

69,551 

59,352 

100.0 

*  Includes  Colorado,  Idaho,  New  Jersey,  and  Washington. 

Data  for  1922  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Yearbook  1924:732.  1925. 
Data  for  1923  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Yearbook  1925:940.  1926. 
Data  for  1924-1926  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Yearbook  1926:954.      1927. 

The  total  commercial  crop  in  the  United  States  amounted  to  71,128 
carlots  in  1922,  dropped  to  42,734  carlots  in  1923,  and  rose  again  to 
69,551  in  1926.  The  average  crop  for  the  five-year  period  was  59,352 
carlots. 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY 


ACRE   YIELDS   OF   WATERMELONS 

Table  3  shows  the  yields  in  numbers  of  watermelons  to  the  acre  by 
states  and  sections  for  each  year  from  1919  to  1926,  and  the  average 
for  1922  to  1926.  The  highest  yields  of  any  state  or  section  were 
obtained  in  Imperial  Valley  which  averaged  633  melons  to  the  acre 
from  1922  to  1926.     This  is  more  than  double  the  yield  of  sections  2, 


TABLE  3 

Acre  Yields  of  Watermelons  by  States  and  Sections 
(In  numbers  of  melons) 


State  and  section 

1919 

1920 

1921 

1922 

1923 

1924 

1925 

1926 

Average 
1922-26 

1.  Southwestern  states: 

Arizona 

405 

405 

360 

340 

320 

150 

320 

335 

293 

California: 

Imperial  Valley 

850 

960 

640 

540 

600 

600 

665 

760 

633 

Other  areas 

480 

500 

410 

420 

400 

479 

400 

441 

428 

Average,  section  1 

578 

622 

470 

433 

440 

410 

462 

512 

451 

2.  Southern  states: 

Alabama 

292 

283 

328 

310 

238 

290 

261 

295 

279 

Arkansas 

279 

350 

330 

310 

290 

400 

250 

200 

290 

Delaware 

480 

431 

416 

250 

380 

280 

367 

252 

306 

Florida 

315 

374 

360 

380 

175 

245 

375 

449 

325 

Georgia 

328 

373 

499 

310 

188 

365 

346 

391 

320 

Maryland 

350 

378 

400 

350 

380 

250 

360 

360 

340 

310 
324 
338 

330 
400 
382 

375 
364 
330 

335 
320 
350 

270 
369 
250 

265 
150 
250 

375 
318 
315 

175 
304 
325 

284 

North  Carolina 

292 

Oklahoma 

298 

468 
270 

565 
364 

500 
273 

300 
335 

375 
369 

445 
225 

424 
176 

410 
200 

391 

Texas 

261 

Virginia 

364 

366 

375 

350 

267 

200 

315 

252 

277 

Average,  section  2 

343 

383 

379 

325 

296 

280 

324 

301 

305 

3.  North  central  states: 

Illinois 

274 

349 

375 

325 

385 

250 

290 

255 

301 

Indiana 

320 

340 

365 

350 

280 

300 

350 

285 

313 

Missouri 

382 

407 

385 

310 

300 

250 

360 

325 

309 

382 

360 

392 

350 

300 

275 

350 

256 

306 

Average,  section  3 

340 

364 

379 

334 

316 

269 

338 

280 

307 

4.  Average,  miscellaneous  states* 

405 

368 

374 

369 

350 

348 

391 

312 

294 

Average,  United  States 

344 

391 

397 

337 

272 

306 

325 

328 

314 

*  Includes  Colorado,  Idaho,  New  Jersey,  and  Washington. 

Data  for  1919-1925  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Yearbook  1925:940.     1926. 
Data  for   1926  compiled  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Yearbook  1926:954. 


8  UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT   STATION 

3,  or  4.  The  rest  of  California  was  next  in  yield  with  an  average  of 
428  melons.  South  Carolina  averaged  391  melons  per  acre;  Mary- 
land, 340;  Florida,  325;  and  Georgia,  320.  The  five-year  average 
(unweighted)  of  the  southwestern  states  was  451  melons  to  the  acre, 
the  southern  states  305,  the  north  central  states  307,  and  the  other 
states  294.  The  average  for  the  United  States  was  314  watermelons 
to  the  acre. 

In  judging  the  future  production  from  any  section  or  state  one 
must  not  assume  that  the  areas  having  the  highest  yields  will  be  the 
ones  to  increase  their  acreage  the  fastest,  or  vice  versa,  for  two 
reasons.  First,  the  price  of  watermelons  on  the  Pacific  Coast  is 
largely  independent  of  the  price  in  the  Middle  West  or  on  the  Atlantic 
Coast  because  it  is  impractical  to  ship  any  considerable  quantities  of 
watermelons  from  California  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  because 
the  freight  rates  are  high  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  product. 
Hence  the  price  may  be  so  low  in  one  section  as  to  discourage  plant- 
ings, and  high  enough  in  another  to  encourage  plantings.  In  the 
second  place,  the  question  of  whether  or  not  a  certain  section  is  going 
to  increase  its  watermelon  plantings,  depends  largely  on  what  alter- 
native products  can  be  produced  in  that  section.  For  example, 
although  Imperial  Valley  has  the  highest  watermelon  yields  of  all 
large  areas  in  the  United  States,  the  production  of  cantaloupes  may 
offer  better  prospects  and  hence  lead  to  a,  decrease  in  the  watermelon 
acreage.  Another  area  may  not  have  as  good  alternatives  and  increase 
the  plantings  in  spite  of  low  yields  to  the  acre.  Figure  2  (p.  10) 
shows  that  shipments  from  section  1  did  not  increase  at  a  faster  rate 
than  those  from  section  2,  even  though  the  former  had  higher  yields. 
Section  3,  which  had  practically  the  same  yield  to  the  acre  as  section  2, 
shows  a  downward  trend  in  shipments. 


TREND   IN  WATERMELON   SHIPMENTS 

The  trend  of  movements  of  farm  products  into  commercial  chan- 
nels may  be  judged  fairly  well  from  the  data  on  carlot  shipments 
which  have  been  compiled,  for  the  United  States  as  a  whole,  by  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Agricultural  Economics  since  1916.  The 
first  few  years  are  generally  considered  to  lack  completeness,  but  since 
1919  the  data  from  year  to  year  are  fairly  comparable.  These  are 
shown  by  states  and  sections  from  1919  to  1926  in  table  4,  and  by 
important  sections  in  figure  2.  Motor-truck  shipments  undoubtedly 
have  increased  rapidly  in  all  sections,  especially  near  the  large 
markets,  but  no  accurate  data  on  these  are  available  as  yet. 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY 


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10 


UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


Carlot  Shipments  of  Watermelons  by  Sections,  1919-1926 

Carlots 

in 
thousands 


Mill 

50 

Section  2  -  Southern  states 

40 
30 

4 

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Fig.  2. — Illustrating  parts  of  table  4.  Carlot  shipments  increased  rapidly 
in  the  southern  and  southwestern  states  from  1919  to  1926.  Exceptionally 
heavy  shipments  occurred  in  L926.  Preliminary  data  for  1927  indicate  a  drop 
in  shipments  to  approximately  the  1925  figure. 


BUL.  449 J      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY  11 

Carlot  shipments  practically  doubled  from  1919  to  1926  in  Cali- 
fornia, Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  and 
Texas.  Missouri  was  the  only  large  producer  that  did  not  show- 
marked  increases  in  shipments.  The  total  shipments  of  section  1 
and  of  section  2  almost  doubled  from  1919  to  1926.  Section  3  shows 
a  slight  downward  trend.  Preliminary  data  for  1927  indicate  a 
decrease  of  approximately  9,000  carlots  in  the  United  States  below 
those  of  1926.  Florida  was  one  of  the  few  states  that  showed  an 
increase  in  1927. 

The  average  annual  shipment  from  section  1  for  the  five-year 
period  1922  to  1926  was  4,873  carlots,  or  11.0  per  cent  of  the  average 
for  the  United  States.  Shipments  from  Florida  averaged  7,495  car- 
lots  and  from  Georgia,  14,138  carlots  for  the  same  period.  These  two 
states  made  up  nearly  one-half  of  the  United  States  watermelon  ship- 
ments. The  southern  states  as  a  whole  averaged  35,744  carlots  a  year, 
or  80.5  per  cent  of  the  total.  Section  3  shipped  an  average  of  3,547 
carlots  a  year  from  1922  to  1926,  or  8.0  per  cent  of  the  total.  The 
five-year  average  for  the  United  States  as  a  whole  was  44,383  carlots. 

Trend  in  Watermelon  Shipments  from  Imperial  and  Coachella 
Valleys. — Accurate  records  of  watermelon  shipments  from  Imperial 
and  Coachella  valleys  are  available  almost  from  the  beginning  of  the 
industry  in  those  areas.  Table  5  shows  the  carlot  shipments  from 
1911  to  1926.  Practically  none  were  shipped  from  Coachella  Valley 
after  1919,  but  Imperial  Valley  increased  its  shipments  rapidly  up  to 
1926,  when  4,513  carlots  were  shipped,  compared  with  113  carlots  in 
1911,  and  1,129  carlots  in  1919.  Cantaloupe  shipments3  from  1919 
to  1925  increased  from  7,831  to  14,509  carlots.  Lettuce  shipments4 
from  1920  to  1925  increased  from  2,940  to  10,302  carlots,  and  grape 
shipments5  from  1919  to  1926  increased  from  142  to  469  carlots. 

In  1927,  carlot  shipments  of  watermelons  from  Imperial  Valley 
decreased  to  3,543 — nearly  1,000  carlots  less  than  the  previous  year. 
This  decrease  was  due  mainly  to  a  decrease  of  approximately  500  acres 
in  plantings,  which  in  turn  was  no  doubt  due  largely  to  the  low  prices 
received  for  watermelons  in  192'6  (see  table  10).  The  price  of  water- 
melons on  the  Los  Angeles  market  improved  slightly  in  1927  com- 
pared with  1926  (see  table  10),  which  may  encourage  some  increase 
in   acreage   for  1928.     It  does  not  seem  likely  that  prices  at  Los 


3  Eauchenstein,  E.  Economic  aspects  of  the  cantaloupe  industry.  California 
Agr.  Exp.  Sta.  Bui.  419:19.     1927. 

4Wellman,  H.  R.     Lettuce.     California  Agr.  Ext.  Cir.  5:17.     1926. 

5  Shear,  S.  W.,  and  H.  F.  Gould.  Economic  status  of  the  grape  industry. 
California  Agr.  Exp.  Sta.  Bui.  429:41.     1927. 


12 


UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT   STATION 


TABLE  5 
Caklot  Shipments  of  Watermelons  from  Imperial  and  Coachella  Valleys, 

1911-1927 


Imperial 

Coachella 

Year 

Valley 

Valley 

1911 

113 

51 

1912 

230 

66 

1913 

414 

96 

1914 

453 

18 

1915 

758 

31 

1916 

701 

17 

1917 

484 

10 

1918 

473 

10 

1919 

1,129 

23 

1920 

1,218 

0 

1921 

1,604 

2 

1922 

1,890 

0 

1923 

2,351 

0 

1924 

2,202 

0 

1925 

2,800 

0 

1926 

4,513 

0 

1927 

3,534 

0 

Data  for  1911-1919  from  Traffic  Dept.  of  California  Fruit  Exchange   (per- 
sonal correspondence). 

Data  for  1920-1923  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Statis.  Bui.  7:66.      1925 

Data  for  1924-1925  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Statis.  Bui.  19:60.      1927. 

Data  for  1926-27  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Crops   and   Markets  4    (9):358. 
1927. 

Angeles,  which  is  by  far  the  most  important  market  for  Imperial 
Valley  watermelons,  will  rise  much  above  the  1927  level,  unless  there 
is  a  decrease  in  melon  receipts  per  capita.  Los  Angeles  unloads  of 
watermelons  in  1926  (see  table  6)  were  almost  as  high  as  the  unloads 
at  Chicago,  which  means  that  the  unloads  per  capita  were  several 
times  as  large.  Unless  production  or  marketing  costs  can  be  lowered 
so  as  to  enable  the  grower  to  produce  at  a  profit  at  present  prices, 
we  cannot  expect  a  rapid  increase  in  watermelon  production  from 
Imperial  Valley  in  the  near  future. 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    WATERMELON    SHIPMENTS     BY    CITIES 

Slightly  more  than  one-half  of  the  55,426  carlots  of  watermelons 
shipped  in  1926  were  unloaded  at  the  forty-two  important  cities  in 
the  United  States  shown  in  table  6.  The  State  of  Washington  is 
included  in  this  table,  not  because  of  the  number  of  carlots  originat- 
ing there,  but  because  it  does  compete  with  California  to  a  slight 
extent  in  furnishing  watermelons  to  Portland,  Seattle,  and  Spokane. 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY 


13 


TABLE  6 
Unloads  of  Watermelons   in  Forty-two  Cities  by   States  of   Origin,   1926 


City  and  state 
receiving 

Cali- 
fornia 

Mis- 
souri 

Texas 

Wash- 
ington 

Florida 

Georgia 

South 
Caro- 
lina 

Total 
of  all 

states 

Per  cent 

of  U.  S. 

total 

5 

2 

31 
35 

78 
233 
252 

79 
738 
100 
182 

23 

143 
811 

226 
206 
193 
164 
864 
792 
716 
281 

205 
847 
963 

1,353 
669 
297 

2,517 
938 
953 
351 
239 
325 
335 

1,284 
272 
436 
594 
627 

2,445 
433 
436 
251 
363 
345 
318 
696 

3,835 
239 
218 

1,743 
868 
356 
255 
238 

1,343 
415 
131 
266 
96 
210 
693 
203 

0  4 

Atlanta,  Ga 

1 

239 

1.5 

Baltimore,  Md 

1.7 

1 

1 

2.4 

178 
36 

1.2 

Buffalo,  N.  Y 

0.5 

3 

482 

213 
2 
4 

2 
232 

1 
278 

8 
270 

4 

4.5 

1 
1 

1.7 

25 

8 

1.7 

0.6 

6 
4 

18 

0.4 

2 

33 

245 

0.6 

0.6 

67 

497 

687 

2.3 

2 

0.5 

16 

71 

199 
36 

291 

380 

31 

0.8 

10 

1.1 

4 
2,442 

88 

369 

1.1 

4.4 

3 
52 

27 
73 
4 

107 

69 

35 

22 

74 

42 

255 

840 

31 

7 

155 

200 

270 

249 

146 

104 

245 

89 

248 

1,406 

48 

3 

500 

560 

12 

0.8 

38 

12 

157 

0.8 

0.5 

Minneapolis,  Minn 

1 

0.7 

1 
139 

0.6 

Newark,  N.  J 

1 

0.6 

4 

37 

1.3 

New  York,  N.  Y 

1,055 
124 

6.9 

Norfolk,  Va 

0.4 

4 

27 

150 
1 

0  4 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

736 
62 

3.2 

Pittsburg,  Pa 

15 

1.6 

315 

4 

1 

35 

0  6 

40 
46 
142 

85 
104 
432 

63 
52 

0.5 

0  4 

St  Louis,  Mo 

564 

87 

2.4 

San  Francisco,  Calif 

415 
111 
234 

74 

0.7 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 

Seattle,  Wash 

11 
1 

0.2 

30 

20 

0  5 

0  2 

Toledo,  Ohio 

45 

92 
50 

157 
164 
118 

0  4 

Washington,  D.  C 

219 

1.3 

Youngstown,  Ohio 

0.4 

Total  42  cities 

3,639 

1,463 

1,881 

85 

4,839 

10,958 

2,930 

29,601 

53  4 

*Total  shipments  in 
United  States 

6,278 

2,843 

6,272 

191 

8,261 

19,369 

5,395 

55,426 

100.0 

*  These  data  do  not  quite  check  with  those  given  in  table  4. 

Data  compiled    from  Unloads  of  Watermelons  in  66  cities  by  states  of  origin 
during  1926.     U.  S.  Bur.  Agr.  Econ.  Mimeo.  Keport  Feb.  5,  1927. 


14  UNIVERSITY    OF   CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT   STATION 

The  other  five  states — Georgia,  Florida,  Texas,  South  Carolina,  and 
Missouri — shown  in  table  6 — head  the  list  of  states  that  ship  water- 
melons. From  these  five  states  and  from  California,  almost  88  per 
cent  (48,418)  earlots)  of  the  watermelon  shipments  in  the  United 
States  originated  in  1926.  Georgia  and  Florida  supplied  approxi- 
mately one-half  of  the  United  States  carlot  shipments. 

New  York  City  had  the  largest  number  of  carlot  unloads  (3,835), 
nearly  7  per  cent  of  the  total  United  States  shipments,  Chicago  was 
second  with  2,517  carlot  unloads.  Both  of  these  cities  received  more 
than  one-half  of  their  supply  from  Georgia  and  Florida,  Los  Angeles 
was  third  in  unloads  with  2,445  earlots,  of  which  all  but  three  came 
from  California.  Philadelphia,  Birmingham,  St,  Louis,  and  Detroit 
ranked  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh,  respectively,  in  unloads. 
Detroit,  the  lowest  of  these,  had  1,284  carlot  unloads.  These  seven 
cities  having  the  largest  unloads,  received  a  total  of  14,520  earlots,  or 
slightly  over  one-fourth  of  the  total  United  States  shipments. 

Watermelons  are  generally  consumed  nearer  to  the  points  of  pro- 
duction than  cantaloupes  or  most  of  the  fruits.  Atlanta,  Georgia,  for 
example,  obtained  811  of  its  847  earlots  from  within  the  state,  and  the 
remainder  from  Florida  and  South  Carolina.  Los  Angeles  and  San 
Francisco  obtained  practically  their  total  supply  from  California, 
Very  few  earlots  from  California  went  farther  east  than  Salt  Lake 
City.  St.  Louis  received  564  of  its  1,343  earlots  from  Missouri, 
although  that  state  shipped  only  2,843  earlots  in  all,  and  does  not 
produce  early  melons.    Chicago  received  482  earlots  from  Missouri. 

Large  cities  which  do  not  have  important  producing  centers  near 
by  tend  to  get  most  of  their  watermelons  from  a  few  important  pro- 
ducing states.  Cincinnati  and  Cleveland,  Ohio,  received  95  per  cent 
of  their  watermelons  from  Georgia  and  Florida,  Pittsburgh,  Pennsyl- 
vania, received  95  per  cent,  and  New  York  City  86  per  cent  of  their 
watermelons  from  Georgia,  Florida,  and  South  Carolina. 


DISTRIBUTION     OF     CARLOT    SHIPMENTS    OF     WATERMELONS     BY 

MONTHS 

The  earliest  shipments  of  watermelons  in  any  considerable  quanti- 
ties, as  shown  in  table  7,  come  from  Florida,  Imperial  Valley,  and 
Texas  during  May.  Florida  took  the  lead  in  May  shipments  in  1925 
and  1927  with  454  and  1,430  earlots,  respectively.  Imperial  Valley 
shipped  a  larger  number  of  earlots  (359)  than  any  other  section  in 
May,  1926,  and  Texas  was  second  to  Florida  in  shipments  for  May, 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY 


15 


0 

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16 


UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT   STATION 


1927.  Shipments  from  Georgia  did  not  begin  until  June  during 
any  of  the  three  years  shown  in  table  7.  In  June,  Florida  took 
the  lead  in  carlot  shipments  by  a  considerable  margin,  each  year 
furnishing  from  4,000  to  6,000  carlots,  or  from  40  to  50  per  cent 
of  the  total  United  States  watermelon  shipments  for  that  month. 
Georgia,  Imperial  Valley,  and  Texas  supplied  most  of  the  other  June 
shipments. 

Monthly  Carlot  Shipments  of  Watermelons  by  Sections,  1925,  1926,  1927 

Carlots   ,„„.. 
in  thousands.  1925  1926  1927 

30 
Section  1 
Southwestern  20 
states. 


Section  2 
Southern  states 


Section  3 
North  central 

states  20 


5   gP 


Fig.  3. — Illustrating  part  of  table  7.  June  and  July  shipments  were  nearly 
equal  in  the  southwestern  states.  Light  shipments  occurred  in  August  and 
practically  none  in  September.  The  peak  from  the  southern  states  came  in 
July  when  they  supplied  approximately  90  per  cent  of  the  United  States  ship- 
ments. Approximately  one-half  of  the  total  August  shipments  came  from  the 
north  central  states. 


During  July,  Georgia  supplied  from  7,600  to  13,800  carlots,  or 
from  40  to  50  per  cent  of  the  total  shipments  for  that  month.  South 
Carolina,  Texas,  Florida,  and  Imperial  Valley  ranked  next  in  import- 
ance. Figure  3  shows  the  shipments  by  months  for  each  of  the  three 
important  watermelon-growing  sections.  July  is  the  peak  month 
each  year  for  section  2  (southern  states),  which  usually  supplies  90 
per  cent  of  the  total  shipments  that  month.  In  July,  1926,  carlot 
shipments  of  watermelons  in  the  United  States  reached  the  high  mark 
of  29,748  carlots,  of  which  the  southern  states  supplied  27,193.  The 
total  August  shipments  dropped  down  to  less  than  one-half  of  the 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY  17 

July  shipments  in  1926  and  1927.  Georgia  still  had  the  highest  ship- 
ments. Missouri,  North  Carolina,  and  South  Carolina  are  relatively 
important  in  shipments  at  this  time.  September  shipments  are  unim- 
portant compared  with  those  of  July.  Section  3  supplied  approxi- 
mately one-half  of  the  September  shipments. 

The  heavy  shipments  of  watermelons  from  the  southern  states  in 
June,  July,  and  August  to  the  relatively  nearby  important  consuming 
centers  of  the  East  and  Middle  West  furnish  considerable  competi- 
tion for  a  number  of  California  fruits,  and  for  Imperial  Valley 
cantaloupes. 


COMPETITION    OF    WATERMELONS    WITH    CANTALOUPES    AND 

FRESH    FRUITS 

United  States  Shipments  by  Months. — The  important  melons  and 
fruits  shipped  in  the  United  States  are  shown  in  table  8  and  figure  4, 
by  months,  for  the  years  1925,  1926,  and  1927.  During  the  month  of 
May  oranges  led  the  list  each  year  in  the  numbers  of  carlots  shipped. 
Cantaloupes  were  second,  but  amounted  to  only  from  one-fourth  to 
one-third  as  many  carlots  as  did  oranges  in  1925  and  1927.  In  1926 
the  number  of  carlots  of  cantaloupes  were  almost  equal  to  the  orange 
shipments.  During  June  and  July,  shipments  of  watermelons  exceeded 
those  of  the  other  commodities  shown  in  table  8  by  a  considerable 
margin,  except  in  July,  1925,  when  peach  shipments  were  17,932 
carlots,  and  watermelon  shipments  17,814. 

Watermelons  again  led  the  list  of  commodities  in  August,  1925, 
with  11,524  carlots.  Peaches  were  second  with  9,921  and  pears  third 
with  6,883.  Cantaloupes  and  grapes  were  close  competitors  for  fourth 
and  fifth  places  with  6,567  and  5,579  carlots,  respectively.  Peach 
shipments  exceeded  the  others  in  August,  1926,  and  1927,  by  large 
margins.  Watermelons,  cantaloupes,  grapes,  and  pears  were  also 
important.  In  September,  grape  shipments  amounted  to  more  than 
30,000  carlots  each  year,  exceeding  by  a  considerable  margin  the  com- 
bined shipments  of  the  other  commodities  shown  in  table  8. 

California  Shipments  by  Months. — Table  9  and  figure  5  include 
the  same  list  of  melons  and  fruits,  for  the  same  months  as  table  8  and 
figure  4,  but  show  only  the  shipments  originating  in  California.  A 
comparison  of  tables  9  and  8  shows  that  the  bulk  of  some  of  the  melons 
and  fruits  in  the  United  States  for  certain  months  originate  in  Cali- 
fornia. For  example,  most  of  the  cantaloupes  shipped  in  the  United 
States  during  May  and  June  in  each  of  the  years  1925,  1926,  and 
1927  originated  in  California.     The  same  thing  is  true  for  oranges 


18 


UNIVERSITY    OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


from  June  to  September;  for  grapes  from  June  to  October;  for 
cherries  in  May ;  for  plums  and  prunes  in  Jane  and  July ;  for  pears 
in  Julv :  and  for  mixed  deciduous  fruits  in  June  and  July. 


TABLE  8 

Carlot   Shipments  of   Specified   Melons   and   Fresh   Fruits   in  the  United 

States,  1925,  1926,  and  1927 


1925 

Melons  and  fruits 

May 

June 

July 

August 

Sept. 

October 

Watermelons 

605 

1,503 

473 

11,767 

10,078 
1,033 
88 
1,040 
3,416 
4,951 

17,814 

9,737 

704 

1,314 

1,776 

2,031 

17,932 

3,929 

882 

11,524 
6,567    • 

87 
5,579 
2,297 
1,740 
9,921 
6,883 
1,358 

2,390 
2,129 

145 

34,925 
1,169 
1,726 
7,420 
6,593 
1,459 

34,339 

507 

Oranges 

4,808 
328 

1,165 

306 

2,830 

1,332 

45 

Total 

7,717 

33,705 

56,119 

45,956 

57,811 

39,337 

1926 

432 
5,699 
1,052 

11,339 
6,239 
1,147 
118 
895 
4,203 
2,209 

29,748 
6,949 
576 
2,386 
1,888 
4,163 

21,709 
6,237 
1,330 

11,340 
5,574 
310 
8,001 
2,267 
3,210 

24,529 
7,678 
1,842 

1,858 
2,467 

Cantaloupes 

9 

Cherries 

30,245 
762 
3,044 
8,848 
6,051 
1,633 

29,899 

341 

Oranges 

5,836 
52 

3,183 

Peaches 

1,021 

Pears 

2,855 

2,141 

177 

Total 

13,071 

28,291- 

74,986 

64,751 

54,908 

37,485 

1927 

1,685 

1,745 

160 

15,419 

11,512 

608 

56 

722 

5,159 

5,409 

20,445 

9,656 

562 

813 

938 

4,093 

12,938 

2,296 

1,256 

5,898 
5,042 
60 
6,427 
2,047 
3,643 
13,015 
6,914 
1,412 

1,246 

2,328 

Cantaloupes 

108 

Grapes , 

30,882 
1,077 
3,201 
9,711 
5,630 
2,019 

36,445 

254 

Oranges 

7,087 
257 

3,348 

Peaches 

176 

Pears 

2,307 

Plums  and  prunes 

982 

176 

Total 

10,934 

39,867 

52,997 

44,458 

56,094 

42,814 

907 

12,842 

22,669 

9,587 

1,831 

Source  of  data: 

For  May  to  September  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Crops  and  Markets  4:218,  268, 
318,  357,  397.      1927. 

For  October  from  U.  S.   Dept.  Agr.  Crops  and  Markets  3:376.     1926. 


BuL.  449 J      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON   INDUSTRY 


19 


Monthly  Carlot  Shipments  of  Specified  Melons  and  Fresh  Fruits  in  the 
United  States,  1925,  1926,  and  1927 

Carlots  in   1925  1926  1927 

thousands 


IS 

26 

20 

16 

/ 

V 

10 

/ 

/ 

\ 

v 

5 

/ 

\ 

0 

/ 

\ 

Cantaloupes 


Mixed 

Deciduous 


V\ 


Peaches 


Peare 


Plums 
and  Prunes 


25 
20 
15 

/ 

\ 

/ 

\ 

10 

/ 

\ 

V 

5 

1 

\ 

C 

5 
0 


s 

V 

20 

3-5 
LO 

i 

v 

/ 

\ 

\ 

/ 

\ 

/ 

— — 

K 

/ 

\ 

v 

/ 

\ 

\ 

/ 

\ 

/ 

\ 

*> 

\ 

/ 

\ 

H.UiH-HlHilM  H 

Fig.  4. — Illustrating  part  of  table  8.  June  and  July  shipments  of  water- 
melons in  the  United  States  exceeded  those  of  cantaloupes  or  any  of  the  fruits. 
In  August,  peaches  usually  had  the  largest  number  of  carlots. 


Table  9  shows  that  watermelon  shipments  in  California  are  rela- 
tively unimportant  compared  with  cantaloupes,  peaches,  oranges, 
grapes,  and  pears.  Even  in  June,  1926  (the  record  month),  when 
2,821  carlots  of  watermelons  were  shipped,  they  amounted  to  less  than 
one-fifth  of  the  total  fruit  and  melon  shipments  originating  in  the 
state.     California  watermelons  thus  have  keen  competition  from  other 


20 


UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT   STATION 


California  fruits,  and  some  of  these  fruits  have  keen  competition  out- 
side of  California  with  the  watermelons  produced  in  other  parts  of  the 
United  States. 


TABLE  9 
Carlot  Shipments  of  Specified  Melons  and  Fruits  Originating  in  California, 

1925,  1926,  1927 


1925 

Melons  and  fruits 

May 

June 

July 

August 

Sept. 

October 

82 

1,477 

377 

1,603 
9,745 

249 
77 

975 
3,287 

102 

1,748 
3,755 

788 
1,452 

227 
42 

Cantaloupes 

Cherries 

Grapes 

1,243 
1,302 
2,026 
4,205 
3,772 
863 

4,882 
963 
1,740 
5,194 
3,638 
335 

33,399 

404 

1,721 

3,280 

929 

19 

30,999 

Mixed  deciduous 

334 

Oranges 

3,941 

692 

4 

Pears 

252 

Plums  and  prunes 

1,325 

45 

Total 

5,877 

17,363 

18,914 

18,992 

40,021 

32,326 

1926 

Watermelons 

359 

5,694 

809 

2,821 
5,595 
149 
114 
847 
4,108 
151 

2,282 
2,268 
37 
2,292 
1,409 
4,158 
6,147 
5,818 
1,172 

438 
357 

125 
11 

Grapes 

7,264 
878 
3,205 
8,325 
3,764 
136 

27,890 

255 

3,039 

2,774 

828 

17 

21,444 

Mixed  deciduous 

135 

Oranges 

5,059 

2,650 

6 

259 

Plums  and  prunes 

2,132 

177 

Total 

11,921 

15,917 

25,583 

24,367 

34,939 

24,671 

1927 

48 

1,730 

152 

1,670 

10,661 

506 

44 

712 

4,007 

89 

2,458 

4,186 

13 

735 

857 

4,079 

1,683 

2,174 

1,251 

787 
1,096 

165 
161 

Cantaloupes 

63 

6,192 
1,360 
3,643 
8,432 
4,947 
437 

29,676 

331 

3,198 

4,901 

1,459 

24 

31,992 

116 

6,224 

2,354 

Peaches 

22 

279 

Plums  and  prunes 

962 

176 

Total 

8,154 

18,651 

17,436 

26,894 

39,915 

35,002 

Average  1925-1927 

8,651 

17,310 

20,644 

23,418 

38,292 

30,666 

Data  for  May  to  October  from  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.  Crops  and  Markets  4:218, 
268,  257,  318,  397,  436.     1927. 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY 


21 


Monthly  Carlot  Shipments  of  Specified  Melons  and  Fresh  Fruits 
Originating  in  California,  1925,  1926,  1927 


Car  lots  In     1926 

thousands 
Watermelons 


Cantaloupe 


1926 


1927 


Plums 
&  Prunes 


I  I  I  I  I  S  I  4  I  I 


O         O 
03       O 


3  ^ 


Fig.  5. — Illustrating  part  of  table  9.  In  California,  cantaloupe  shipments 
were  earlier  and  considerably  heavier  than  watermelons.  During  July  and 
August  peach  and  pear  shipments  were  much  greater  than  watermelon  shipments. 

California  Shipments  of  Fruits  and  Melons  by  Months  Compared 
with  United  States  Watermelon  Shipments. — Figure  6  is  based  on 
parts  of  tables  8  and  9  and  shows  the  comparison,  by  monthly 
averages  for  1925-1927,  of  California  fruit  and  melon  shipments  and 
total  United  States  watermelon  shipments.  In  May,  California  fruits 
and  melons  experienced  little  competition  from  the  watermelon  ship- 
ments of  the  United  States  as  a  whole.  During  June,  United  States 
watermelon  shipments  amounted  to  almost  13,000  carlots,  compared 
with  approximately  17,000  carlots  of  California  .fruit  and  melon 
shipments.  In  July,  United  States  watermelon  shipments  exceeded 
California  melon  and  fruit  shipments  by  approximately  10  per 
cent.  August  shipments  of  United  States  watermelons  amounted  to 
approximately  40  per  cent  of  the  California  fruits  and  melons.  In 
September  and  October  watermelons  practically  ceased  to  compete 
with  California  fruits. 


22 


UNIVERSITY   OF    CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT    STATION 


Monthly  Carlot  Shipments  of  California  Fruits  and  Melons  and  of  Total 
United  States  Watermelons 


(Average  for   1925-1927) 


CARLOTS 

in 
thousands 


MAY 


JUNE 


JULY 


AUG. 


SEPT. 


OCT. 


Fig.  6. — Illustrating  parts  of  tables  8  and  9.  The  total  watermelon  ship- 
ments in  the  United  States  furnish  keen  competition  for  California  melons  and 
fruits  during  June,  July  and  August  particularly  since  most  of  the  watermelons 
are  produced  relatively  near  the  large  markets. 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY  23 


FACTORS    AFFECTING    THE    PRICES    OF    IMPERIAL    VALLEY 
WATERMELONS    IN    LOS    ANGELES 

The  general  statement  that  the  price  of  any  commodity  falls  as 
the  supply  increases,  other  things  remaining  the  same,  is  usually 
accepted  in  all  cases  wjiere  there  is  free  competition.  However,  there 
are  few  publications  which  deal  with  the  question  of  the  amount  of 
decrease  in  the  price  of  any  commodity  for  given  increases  in  the 
supply. 

It  is  possible  to  calculate  the  amount  of  change  in  x^rice  which  has 
taken  place  for  a  given  change  in  supply,  and  to  determine  how  con- 
sistently these  changes  have  occurred.  If  given  changes  in  supply 
have  always  been  accompanied  by  practically  the  same  changes  in 
price,  the  correlation  between  the  two  is  said  to  be  high.  A  minus 
one  ( — 1)  indicates  perfect  inverse,  or  negative,  correlation,  as,  for 
example,  when  prices  decrease  in  definite  amounts  or  proportions 
with  given  increases  in  supply,  and  increase  with  decreases  in  supply. 
A  plus  one  (+1)  indicates  perfect  direct,  or  positive,  correlation  such 
as  might  occur  between  temperatures  and  prices  of  watermelons. 
That  is,  when  one  increases  in  definite  amounts  or  proportions  with 
given  increases  in  the  other  or  vice  versa. 

Carlots  on  Track,  and  Prices. — There  has  been  a  fairly  high  corre- 
lation between  carlots  of  watermelons  on  track  (broken  and  unbroken) 
at  Los  Angeles  and  the  wholesale  prices  of  watermelons.  Table  10, 
column  A,  shows  the  average  number  of  carlots  on  track  per  day  by 
seven-day  periods  for  the  first  eight  weeks  of  each  season  from  1922 
to  1927.  The  average  prices  per  pound  for  the  same  periods  are 
shown  in  column  X,  table  10.  A  study  of  these  two  columns  shows 
that  periods  when  there  were  few  carlots  on  track  were  usually 
associated  with  high  prices,  and  as  the  number  of  carlots  on  track 
increased  the  prices  generally  fell. 

The  closeness  of  the  correlation  between  carlots  of  watermelons 
on  track  and  prices  can  be  tested  by  making  a  scatter  diagram  (dot 
chart)  of  these  two  factors.  This  is  shown  in  figure  7.  Each  dot 
represents  the  average  number  of  carlots  on  track  for  a  specific  period 
and  the  average  price  for  the  same  period.  For  example,  the  first 
period  (see  table  10)  had  an  average  of  7  carlots  on  track  daily, 
and  the  average  price  was  4.01  cents  a  pound.  Locating  7  on  the 
horizontal  scale  and  moving  vertically  up  from  that  point  to  4.01 
on  the  vertical  scale  locates  the  point  1  which  represents  graphically 
the  carlots  on  track  and  the  price  for  period  ending  June  21  (see  first 


24 


UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT   STATION 


column,  table  10).     The  other  dots  are  located  in  the  same  way,  and 
are  given  the  same  number  in  figure  7  as  in  table  10. 


TABLE  10 

Relation   of   Los    Angeles    Prices    for   Imperial    Valley    Watermelons    to 

Carlots  on  Track,  1922-1927 


Number 
of  period 

Date 
period  ending 

Average  number 

of  carlots  on  track 

each  day 

A 

Average  price  for 

period  in  cents 

per  pound 

1 

1922:  June  21 

7 

4.01 

2 

28 

14 

3.05 

3 

July    5 

54 

1.94 

4 

12 

57 

1.35 

5 

19 

42 

1.59 

6 

26 

45 

1.79 

7 

Aug.    2 

35 

1.75 

8 

9 

10 

2.06 

9 

1923:  June  14 

8 

3.19 

10 

21 

87 

2.05 

11 

28 

97 

1.63 

12 

July    5 

137 

1.62 

13 

12 

98 

1.64 

14 

19 

83 

2.04 

15 

26 

51 

2.81 

16 

Aug.    2 

44 

2.89 

17 

1924:  June  14 

22 

2.70 

18 

21 

37 

3.00 

19 

28 

45 

2.23 

20 

July    5 

56 

1.81 

21 

12 

116 

1.83 

22 

19 

109 

1.66 

23 

26 

125 

1.18 

24 

Aug.    2 

65 

1  17 

25 

1925:  June    7 

26 

2.66 

26 

14 

34 

2.21 

27 

21 

72 

1.51 

28 

28 

63 

1.51 

29 

July    5 

107 

2.03 

30 

12 

131 

1.01 

31 

19 

105 

2.04 

32 

26 

66 

1.92 

33 

1926:  June    7 

37 

1.97 

34 

14 

92 

1.12 

35 

21 

171 

0.82 

36 

28 

168 

0.76 

37 

July    5 

182 

0.80 

38 

12 

144 

0.66 

39 

19 

177 

0.72 

40 

26 

155 

1.03 

41 

1927:  June  14 

20 

2.05 

42 

21 

39 

1.94 

43 

28 

63 

1.54 

44 

July    5 

132 

1.27 

45 

12 

141 

1.09 

46 

19 

142 

1.07 

47 

26 

144 

1.02 

48 

Aug.    2 

137 

0.94 

Data  compiled  from  Harris,  Homer  A.     Market  News  Service  U.  S.  Bur, 
Ag<r.  Econ.  Daily  Market  Reports,  Los  Angeles,  Calif.,  current  issues. 


BUL.  449]      ECONOMIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  WATERMELON  INDUSTRY 


25 


Average  Weekly  Watermelon  Prices  at  Los  Angeles,  and  Cars  on  Track, 

1922-1927 


20  40  60  80  100  120         140  160  180  200 

Fig.  7. — Illustrating  part  of  table  10.  Each  dot  represents  the  average  car- 
lots  on  track  for  one  week,  read  on  the  horizontal  scale,  and  accompanying 
price  read  on  the  vertical  scale.  Each  dot  is  numbered  according  to  the  time 
shown  in  the  first  column  of  table  10.  The  line  dd'  represents  the  average 
relationship  between  carlots  on  track  and  price.  The  scatter  of  the  dots  about 
the  line  dd'  shows  that  other  factors,  in  addition  to  carlots  on  track,  affected 
prices  to  some  extent. 


The  line  dd'  drawn  through  the  dots  in  figure  7  has  been  fitted 
mathematically  in  this  case.  The  equation  is  log  x=0A64t2-0.00307A.6 
The  line  could  be  drawn  fairly  accurately  free-hand  by  locating  it  in 
such  a  way  that  the  distances  of  the  dots  above  and  below  the  line 
approximately  offset  each  other.  This  line  represents,  then,  the 
average  relationship  that  has  prevailed  between  carlots  on  track  and 
prices.     On  the  basis  of  this  average  relationship  one  would  have 

6  The  method  used  in  these  calculations  is  described  in  detail  in  the  publi- 
cation by  Wallace,  H.  A.,  and  Geo.  W.  Snedecor.  Correlation  and  machine 
calculation.  Iowa  State  College  of  Agr.  and  Mechanic  Arts,  Ames,  Iowa, 
Official  Publication  23:1-47.     1925. 


26  UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT   STATION 

expected,  with  20  carlots  on  track,  a  price  of  2.5  cents  a  pound ;  with 
40  carlots  on  track,  a  price  of  2.2  cents ;  and  so  on,  in  each  case  taking 
the  price  reading  on  the  vertical  scale  at  the  height  where  a  line 
drawn  vertically  from  the  given  number  of  carlots  on  track  would 
intersect  the  line  dd'. 

The  reliability  of  this  line  dd',  figure  7,  in  estimating  future  prices 
from  the  number  of  carlots  on  track  may  be  judged  approximately  by 
the  amount  of  the  scatter  of  the  actual  prices  above  and  below  the 
average  price  line.  These  show  a  considerable  amount  of  scatter  due 
to  the  effect  of  other  facts  than  supply  on  prices.7  The  correlation 
index  between  carlots  on  track  and  price  for  the  forty-eight  weeks 
shown  in  table  10  is  — 0.8456.  This  indicates  that  approximately 
71  per  cent  of  the  variation  in  price  have  been  associated  with 
variations  in  numbers  of  carlots  on  track. 


"  A  more  detailed  analysis  of  the  factors  affecting  prices  of  Imperial  Valley 
watermelons  on  the  Los  Angeles  market  will  be  presented  in  a  technical  article. 
In  addition  to  carlots  on  track,  it  has  been  found  that,  carlot  arrivals,  the 
time  of  season,  and  temperatures  have  a  measurable  effect  on  prices. 


STATION   PUBLICATIONS   AVAILABLE   FOR   FREE   DISTRIBUTION 


BULLETINS 


No.  No. 

253.   Irrigation   and   Soil    Conditions   in  the  3  86. 

Sierra    Nevada   Foothills,    California. 

262.  Citrus   Diseases   of   Florida    and    Cuba  387. 

Compai'ed    with   those   of    California.  388. 

263.  Size  Grades  for  Ripe  Olives. 

268.   Growing  and  Grafting  Olive  Seedlings.  389. 

273.   Preliminary   Report  on   Kearney  Vine-  390. 

yard     Experimental     Drain,     Fresno 
County,    Calif.  391. 

277.  Sudan  Grass. 

278.  Grain   Sorghums.  392. 

279.  Irrigation  of  Rice  in  California.  393. 
283.  The  Olive  Insects  of  California.  394. 
304.   A  Study  of  the  Effects  of   Freezes  on 

Citrus  in  California. 

310.   Plum  Pollination.  395. 

313.   Pruning      Young       Deciduous      Fruit 

Trees.  396. 

324.    Storage  of  Perishable  Fruits  at  Freez- 
ing  Temperatures.  397. 

328.    Prune    Growing  in    California. 

331.   Phylloxera-resistant   Stocks.  398. 

335.   Cocoanut   Meal    as    a    Feed    for    Dairy  400. 

Cows   and   Other   Livestock.  402. 

340.   Control     of     the     Pocket     Gopher     in  404. 

343.  Cheese    Pests   and   Their   Control.  406. 

344.  Cold    Storage    as   an    Aid   to   the    Mar-  407. 

keting  of  Plums,  a  Progress  Report. 

347.  The  Control  of  Red  Spiders  in  Decid- 

uous Orchards.  408. 

348.  Pruning  Young  Olive  Trees.  409. 

349.  A     Study    of     Sidedraft    and    Tractor 

Hitches. 

350.  Agriculture      in      Cut-Over      Redwood 

Lands.  410. 

353.   Bovine    Infectious    Abortion,    and    As- 
sociated Diseases  of  Cattle  and  New- 
born  Calves.  411. 
•354.    Results  of  Rice  Experiments  in   1922. 

357.  A    Self-Mixing    Dusting    Machine    for  412. 

Applying  Dry  Insecticides  and  Fun- 
gicides. 

358.  Black    Measles,     Water    Berries,     and  414. 

Related  Vine  Troubles. 

361.  Preliminary  Yield   Tables   for   Second-  415. 

Growth    Redwood.  416. 

362.  Dust  and   the   Tractor   Engine. 

363.  The  Pruning  of  Citrus  Trees  in   Cali-  417. 

fornia. 

364.  Fungicidal    Dusts    for    the    Control    of  418. 

Bunt. 

366.  Turkish     Tobacco     Culture,     Curing,  419. 

and   Marketing. 

367.  Methods  of  Harvesting  and  Irrigation  420. 

in  Relation  to  Moldy  Walnuts. 

368.  Bacterial      Decomposition      of      Olives  421. 

During   Pickling.  422. 

369.  Comparison      of     Woods     for      Butter 

Boxes.  423. 

370.  Factors    Influencing    the    Development 

of  Internal  Browning  of  the  Yellow  424. 

Newton   Apple. 

371.  The    Relative    Cost    of    Yarding    Small  425. 

and   Large   Timber.  426. 

373.    Pear    Pollination. 

3  74.    A     Survey    of     Orchard     Practices    in  427. 

the     Citrus     Industry     of     Southern 
California.  428. 

375.    Results    of    Rice    Experiments    at    Cor- 
tena,   1923,  and  Progress  in  Experi- 
ments in   Water  Grass  Control  at  the  429. 
Biggs    Rice   Field    Station,    1922-23.  430. 

377.   The  Cold  Storage  of  Pears.  431. 

379.  Walnut    Culture   in    California. 

380.  Growth    of    Eucalyptus    in    California  432. 

Plantations. 
382.    Pumping    for    Draininge    in    the    San  433. 

Joaquin    Valley,    California. 
385.   Pollination  of  the  Sweet  Cherry. 


Pruning  Bearing  Deciduous  Fruit 
Trees. 

Fig    Smut. 

The  Principles  and  Practice  of  Sun- 
Drying  Fruit. 

Berseem  or  Egyptian  Clover. 

Harvesting  and  Packing  Grapes  in 
California. 

Machines  for  Coating  Seed  Wheat 
Avith    Copper    Carbonate    Dust. 

Fruit  Juice  Concentrates. 

Crop    Sequences   at    Davis. 

I.  Cereal  Hay  Production  in  Cali- 
fornia. II.  Feeding  Trials  with 
Cereal  Hays. 

Bark  Diseases  of  Citrus  Trees  in  Cali- 
fornia. 

The  Mat  Bean,  Phaseolus  Aconitifo- 
lius. 

Manufacture  of  Roquefort  Type  Cheese 
from  Goat's  Milk. 

Orchard    Heating   in    California. 

The   Utilization  of   Surplus  Plums. 

The  Codling  Moth   in  Walnuts. 

The  Dehydration  of   Prunes. 

Citrus    Culture   in    Central    California. 

Stationary  Spray  Plants  in  California. 

Yield,  Stand,  and  Volume  Tables  for 
White  Fir  in  the  California  Pine 
Region. 

Alternaria    Rot   of   Lemons. 

The  Digestibility  of  Certain  Fruit  By- 
products as  Determined  for  Rumi- 
nants. Part  I.  Dried  Orange  Pulp 
and  Raisin  Pulp. 

Factors  Influencing  the  Quality  of 
Fresh  Asparagus  after  it  is  Har- 
vested. 

Paradichlorobenzene  as  a  Soil  Fumi- 
gant. 

A  Study  of  the  Relative  Value  of  Cer- 
tain Root  Crops  and  Salmon  Oil  as 
Sources    of   Vitamin    A  for    Poultry. 

Planting  and  Thinning  Distances  for 
Deciduous  Fruit  Trees. 

The  Tractor  on   California  Farms. 

Culture  of  the  Oriental  Persimmon  in 
California. 

Poultry  Feeding  :  Principles  and  Prac- 
tice. 

A  Study  of  Various  Rations  for  Fin- 
ishing Range  Calves    as  Baby  Beeves. 

Economic  Aspects  of  the  Cantaloupe 
Industry. 

Rice  and  Rice  By-Products  as  Feeds 
for  Fattening  Swine. 

Beef   Cattle   Feeding   Trials,    1921-24. 

Cost  of  Producing  Almonds  in  Cali- 
fornia :   a   Progress  Report. 

Apricots  (Series  on  California  Crops 
and   Prices). 

The  Relation  of  Rate  of  Maturity  to 
Egg  Production. 

Apple  Growing   in    California. 

Apple  Pollination  Studies  in  Cali- 
fornia. 

The  Value  of  Orange  Pulp  for  Milk 
Production. 

The  Relation  of  Maturity  of  Cali- 
fornia Plums  to  Shipping  and 
Dessert  Quality. 

Economic  Status  of  the  Grape  Industry. 

Range  Grasses  of  California. 

Raisin  By-Products  and  Bean  Screen- 
ings as  Feeds  for  Fattening   Lambs. 

Some  Economic  Problems  Involved  in 
the   Pooling  of  Fruit. 

Power  Requirements  of  Electrically 
Driven     Manufacturing     Equipment. 


No. 
434. 

435. 


436. 
437. 
438. 
439. 


No. 
87. 
115. 
117. 

127. 

129. 
136. 

144. 

157. 
164. 
166. 
173. 

178. 
179. 

202. 

203. 
209. 
212. 
215. 
217. 

230. 

231. 
232. 

234. 

238. 
239. 

240. 

241. 

243. 

244. 
245. 

248. 

249. 
250. 

252. 
253. 
254. 

255. 


BULLETINS- 


Investigations  on  the  Use  of  Fruits  in 
Ice  Cream  and  Ices. 

The  Problem  of  Securing  Closer 
Relationship  Between  Agricultural 
Development  and  Irrigation  Con- 
struction. 

I.  The  Kadota  Fig.  II.  Kadota  Fig 
Products. 

Economic  Aspects  of  the  Dairy  In- 
dustry. 

Crafting  Affinities  with  Special  Refer- 
ence to  Plums. 

The  Digestibility  of  Certain  Fruit  By- 
products as  Determined  for  Rumi- 
nants. Part  II.  Dried  Pineapple 
Pulp,  Dried  Lemon  Pulp,  and  Dried 
Olive  Pulp. 


(Continued) 
No. 

440.  The    Feeding    Value    of    Raisins    and 

Dairy  By-Products  for  Growing  and 
Fattening  Swine. 

441.  The  Electric  Brooder. 

442.  Laboratory  Tests  of  Orchard  Heaters. 

443.  Standardization    and    Improvement   of 

California   Butter. 

444.  Series  on  California  Crops  and  Prices  : 

Beans. 

445.  Economic    Aspects    of    the    Apple    In- 

dustry. 


CIRCULARS 
No. 


Alfalfa. 

Grafting   Vinifera   Vineyards. 

The  selection  and  Cost  of  a  Small 
Pumping   Plant. 

House  Fumigation. 

The  control  of  Citrus  Insects. 

Melilotus  Indica  as  a  Green-Manure 
Crop  for  California. 

Oidium  or  Powdery  Mildew  of  the 
Vine. 

Control  of  Pear   S^ab. 

Small    Fruit    Culture    in    California. 

The  County  Farm  Bureau. 

The  Construction  of  the  Wood-Hoop 
Silo. 

The  Packing  of  Apples  in  California. 

Factors  of  Importance  in  Producing 
Milk  of  Low  Bacterial  Count. 

County  Organization  for  Rural  Fire 
Control. 

Peat   as   a  Manure   Substitute. 

The  Function  of  the  Farm  Bureau. 

Salvaging  Rain-Damaged   Prunes. 

Feeding  Dairy   Cows  in   California. 

Methods  for  Marketing  Vegetables  in 
California. 

Testing  Milk,  Cream,  and  Skim  Milk 
for  Butterfat. 

The   Home  Vineyard. 

Harvesting  and  Handling  California 
Cherries    for    Eastern    Shipment. 

Winter  Injury  to  Young  Walnut 
Trees  During  1921-1922. 

The   Apricot  in   California. 

Harvesting  and  Handling  Apricots 
and  Plums  for  Eastern  Shipment. 

Harvesting  and  Handling  California 
Pears  for  Eastern  Shipment. 

Harvesting  and  Handling  California 
Peaches  for  Eastern   Shipment. 

Marmalade  Juice  and  Jelly  Juice 
from   Citrus  Fruits. 

Central  Wire  Bracing  for  Fruit  Trees. 

Vine  Pruning   Systems. 

Some  Common  Errors  in  Vine  Prun- 
ing and  Their  Remedies. 

Replacing  Missing  Vines. 

Measurement  of  Irrigation  Water  on 
the  Farm. 

Support   for   Vines. 

Vineyard   Plans. 

The  Use  of  Artificial  Light  to  In- 
crease Winter  Egg   Production. 

Leguminous  Plants  as  Organic  Fer- 
tilizers  in    California    Agriculture. 


257. 

258. 
259. 
261. 
264. 

265. 
266. 

267. 

269. 
270. 
273. 
276. 
277. 

278. 

279. 

281. 


282. 

283. 
284. 
286. 
287. 
288. 
289. 
290. 
292. 
293. 
294. 
296. 

298. 

300. 
301. 
302. 
304. 
305. 
306. 

307. 
308. 
309. 
310. 

311. 


The  Small-Seeded  Horse  Bean  (Vicia 
faba   var.   minor). 

Thinning   Deciduous   Fruits. 

Pear  By-Products. 

Sewing  Grain  Sacks. 

Preliminary  Essentials  to  Bovine  Tu- 
berculosis Control  in   California. 

Plant   Disease   and   Pest   Control. 

Analyzing  the  Citrus  Orchard  by 
Means  of  Simple  Tree  Records. 

The  Tendency  of  Tractors  to  Rise  in 
Front;  Causes  and  Remedies. 

An   Orchard   Brush   Burner. 

A  Farm  Septic  Tank. 

Saving  the   Gophered  Citrus  Tree. 

Home   Canning. 

Head,  Cane  and  Cordon  Pruning  of 
Vines. 

Olive  Pickling  in  Mediterranean 
Countries. 

The  Preparation  and  Refining  of 
Olive  Oil  in  Southern  Europe. 

The  Results  of  a  Survey  to  Deter- 
mine the  Cost  of  Producing  Beef  in 
California. 

Prevention  of  Insect  Attack  on  Stored 
Grain. 

Fertilizing  Citrus  Trees  in  California. 

The   Almond  in   California. 

Milk  Houses  for  California  Dairies. 

Potato   Production  in   California. 

Phylloxera  Resistant  Vineyards. 

Oak  Fungus  in   Orchard   Trees. 

The  Tangier  Pea. 

Alkali   Soils. 

The    Basis   of   Grape    Standardization. 

Propagation   of   Deciduous  Fruits. 

Control  of  the  California  Ground 
Squirrel. 

Possibilities  and  Limitations  of  Coop- 
erative Marketing. 

Coccidiosis  of  Chickens. 

Buckeye  Poisoning  of  the  Honey  Bee. 

The   Sugar  Beet  in  California. 

Drainage  on  the  Farm. 

Liming  the   Soil. 

A  General  Purpose  Soil  Auger  and 
Its  Use  on  the  Farm. 

American   Foulbrood   and   Its   Control. 

Cantaloupe    Production   in   California. 

Fruit  Tree  and   Orchard  Judging. 

The  Operation  of  the  Bacteriological 
Laboratory  for  Dairy  Plants. 

The  Improvement  of   Quality  in  Figs. 


The  publications  listed  above  may  be  had  by  addressing 

College  of  Agriculture, 

University  of  California, 

Berkeley,  California. 


llm-3,'28 


